A social psychological study of fees and their effects on raters' judgements of a therapy session was conducted. A sample of 257 students was comprised of two groups; those students who were therapy trainees and a contrast group; those students who had no training as therapists. / Subjects viewed a videotaped segment of a role-played therapy session and then were asked to evaluate the therapist and the client via a questionnaire. Subjects had been randomly assigned to a high, moderate, or low fee condition, or the control group in which no mention of a fee was made for the session they had viewed. The data collected were used to test four hypotheses concerning the relationship between the amount of fee purportedly charged for the session and the subsequent evaluation of the therapist and the client by subject. Additionally, the interaction between type of rater (therapist trainee or contrast group) and the four fee conditions was examined. Tests of the four hypotheses proposed were carried out utilizing a series of 2 x 4 analyses of variance. / An inverse relationship between fee and positive perceptions of the therapist was found. Subjects in the higher fee conditions saw the therapist as significantly less attractive (F (3,249) = 4.207, p < .01) and in a less positive light overall as measured by the Counselor Rating Form score (F (3,249) = 3.527, p < .05). In the high fee condition, the therapist was rated less positively than in the moderate, low, and control conditions. / When rating the client, therapist trainees rated the client significantly more negatively than did the contrast group irrespective of the fee condition (F (1,238) = 4.596, p < .05). / Implications are discussed for observers of therapy, teaching strategies, and client evaluations. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: B, page: 0554. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

A retrospective survey of childhood sexual experiences were conducted in order to determine the long-range consequences for adult funtioning. The sample included 501 women, primarily middle-class. No clinical or offender populations were sampled. Half of the women were undergraduate (34 percent) and graduate (16 percent) students, the mean age was 28 years, 63 percent of the sample was white and 35 percent was black. / There were 55 percent of the sample who reported having sexual experiences before they were 15 years of age. The sexual behaviors reported most often were kissing and hugging in a sexual way and exhibition. There were 24 percent who reported sexual experiences with relatives. However, only 0.6 percent had "incestuous" experiences when Webster's Dictionary (1978) definition of incest is used. Findings challenge beliefs that blacks are more sexually active than whites, and that the prevalence of sexual experiences is increasing and beginning at an earlier age. Most women reported the experience as pleasant, and participation was 67 percent voluntary. Abusive experiences were reported by 10 percent of the sample, and harmful experiences by 16 percent. Experiences with older partners (at least five years) were reported by 13 percent of the sample. Also, 24 percent of the variance in voluntary participation, and 21 percent of the variance in abusive, harmful and forced experiences were explained by older partners. / Five standardized scales were used as dependent variables to measure the consequences of childhood sexual experiences for present adult functioning in the areas of self-esteem, depression, marital satisfaction, sexual satisfaction and family relations. In analyses of variance, the scores of women with childhood sexual experiences were not significantly different from those of women with no sexual experiences. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that sexual experiences that were abusive, forced, guilt-producing, harmful or pressured interacting with the type partner (parents, other relatives, or non-relatives) had more consequences for adult functioning than the type partner, conditions of and reactions to the experience had alone, and were statistically significant for all five measures of adult functioning. However, when the effects of background variables were held constant, the amounts of variance explained by any of the sets of variables were less than 12.5 percent. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-06, Section: A, page: 2104. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the cognitive and behavioral consequences of manipulating causal attributions during interpersonal competition. Pairs of female undergraduates (N = 83) "competed" in a novel, best-four-out-of-seven dart tossing contest. The salient cause for success or failure in the contest was manipulated by providing either an ability-oriented or effort-oriented instructional set for the novel task. Competitive outcomes (constant success or failure) and margins of victory/defeat (consistently small or large) were also manipulated by providing false feedback about the results of four competitive trials. The dependent variables of primary interest were expectancies for success, the number of practice throws made prior to competition, and the quality of performance on the competitive throws. / The results of this investigation may be summarized as follows: (1) Expectancies for success were differentially affected by the two attributional orientations but in a manner only partially predicted from theory. Given losing outcomes, expectancies remained more intermediate with an effort orientation than with an ability orientation. Given winning outcomes, the expectancies of effort-oriented competitors tended to be less intermediate than those of ability-oriented competitors. (2) Practice behavior was not significantly affected by the attributional manipulation. However, a significant main effect for margin of victory/defeat indicated that subjects experiencing large outcome margins practiced more than those experiencing small outcome margins. In addition, a significant outcome x trials interaction indicated that winners practiced at a constant level across trials while losers decreased their level of practice across trials. (3) The quality of performance was not affected by the attributional manipulation. However, a significant outcome x margin x trials interaction was obtained. This interaction indicated that there was no difference in performance quality between winners and losers when the margin of victory/defeat was small. When the margin of victory/defeat was large, losers performed better than winners on trials 2 and 3. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-10, Section: B, page: 3409. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The two purposes of this study were to provide descriptive data concerning the marital relationships of parents of children with congenital developmental disabilities, the family hardships they face, and the coping methods they use, and to examine the relationships between marital functioning, family hardships, and parental coping methods. Subjects were 32 married couples, each with a developmentally disabled child. Data were collected using a telephone interview, mailed questionnaire package, and personal interviews. Instruments included the Index of Marital Satisfaction, Marital Status Inventory, Problem Checklist, and the Coping Health Inventory for Parents. / Over 90% of the marriages had a high degree of stability. Approximately one-third of both husbands and wives reported serious marital dissatisfaction. At least one spouse in over 43% of the couples reported serious marital dissatisfaction. Therefore, most of the marriages were relatively stable and of adequate quality. However, a substantial proportion of the marriages were stable, but of low quality. / The most frequently mentioned marital strengths by spouses were (1) companionship, love, and friendship, and (2) commitment to marriage and family orientation. The most common areas of conflict reported were finances and childcare. Approximately one-third of both husbands and wives reported sexual dissatisfaction. Parents indicated that the two areas of marriage most affected by their child's disability were their social life together and the amount of time they were able to be together as a couple. The most common hardships reported by parents were (1) concern about the disabled child's future (2) finances and (3) time with spouse. / Multiple regression analysis revealed significant and substantial negative relationships between marital quality and stability and the number of family hardships reported by parents. No significant relationships were found between marital stability and quality and parental use of coping methods. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: A, page: 2454. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of the study was to identify reported critical factors that differentiated the runaway adolescent from the non-runaway and to determine if there were reported personal characteristics that differentiated those who had run away once or more than once from those who had never run away. Variables to be analyzed were categorized under the three major headings of Family, Personal, and School. / Data for the current study were collected as part of a larger study entitled "Profile of Today's Youth Project" (PTYP) conducted through the Department of Home Economics Education, The Florida State University. The sample for the current study was obtained from the larger PTYP student sample of 2626 adolescents and was restricted to those 1296 adolescents who had completed the following instruments: The Index of Family Relations Scale; The Child's Attitude Toward Mother Scale; The Child's Attitude Toward Father Scale; A behavior checklist; and a demographic questionnaire. / Results of the present study indicated: (1) more adolescents from reconstituted families are likely to be involved in runaway behavior than adolecents from natural, two-parent families. (2) Adolescents' attitudes toward mother, father, and family life appeared to be more negative for those who had run away at least once as compared to those who had never run away. (3) Adolecents who had run away once or more than once were involved in more school deviant activities such as truancy, skipping classes, and fighting with other students than those adolescents who had never run away. (4) Adolescents who had run away more than once were involved in more non-school deviant activites such as vandalism, use of alcohol or use of marijuana than those who had never run away. Although these findings cannot be used to identify causes of runaway behavior, they can be useful as indicators in identifying those adolescents who are potential runaways. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-09, Section: A, page: 2993. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

To investigate the viability of littering as a nonreactive assessor of attitudes, an experiment was conducted in which sex of subject (male, female), sex of interviewer (male, female), issue (Equal Rights Amendment, Death Penalty), type of flyer (support the issue, stop the issue), and button condition (interviewer wore a support the issue, a stop the issue or no button) were varied. Subjects' littering and interview responses were compared using a logistic regression analysis. It was concluded that in this study interviews were less cumbersome to conduct and the results easier to predict than the littering measure. Since two other experiments (Cialdini & Baumann, 1981) yielded more encouraging results regarding the littering measure, further investigation is warranted. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-08, Section: B, page: 2739. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

An exploratory case study of one organization--Anti-Nuclear Alliance (ANA)--was carried out during the 3 1/2 year life span of the organization. The study was designed to identify and analyze the organizational concepts related to life span stages of development. The organization was conceptualized as having passed through three identifiable stages during its life span: Growth, Institutionalization, and Decline. The three organizational concepts found to be related to these life span stages were: (a) composition of the group of participants in regard to adherence to the alternative paradigm and levels of involvement with the organization, (b) the linkages formed by participants of ANA with other organizations, and (c) the form of decision-making adopted by the group during its business meetings. / Data were collected through participant observation of ANA's business meetings and through the study of meeting minutes kept by the organization. A data analysis process based on "grounded theory" as developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967) and Glaser (1978) was utilized to arrive at a conceptual scheme delineating the variations and interactions of the organizational concepts within each life span stage. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-10, Section: A, page: 3418. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study examined those early literacy skills and their relation to parent involvement. Two groups were chosen for the study, an intervention group and a comparison group. The intervention group, composed of three child care centers, received an eight-week intervention. The comparison group, composed of two child care centers, did not receive an intervention. Four measures were given to 67 children (33 males, 34 females) prior to the early literacy intervention and following the conclusion of the intervention. Measures include the Boehm Test of Basic concepts, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised, the Print Awareness subtest, and the Receptive Vocabulary subtest from the Preschool Comprehensive Test of Print and Phonological Processing. Results showed that parents can be effective increasing young children's print awareness. In addition, teachers can provide parents with early literacy information they can use with their child. The intervention was not effective in increasing all vocabulary measures or basic concepts in young children. However, the results found a significant difference in one vocabulary measure that is directed at vocabulary achieved through reading instruction. Methodological reasons were identified for differential results. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: June 17, 2003. / Parent Involvment, Early Literacy Skills / Includes bibliographical references. / Ron Mullis, Professor Directing Thesis; Coco Readdick, Committee Member; Richard Wagner, Committee Member.

The meaning of their participation to citizen volunteers who were members of mental health district boards in Florida was examined. Focus of the inquiry was to assess whether these board members perceived themselves as autonomous in making decisions about three basic dimensions: setting up rules with respect to funding and to minimum standards of mental health services delivery; and with regard to creating or discontinuing mental health programs. / Data were gathered through: (1) self-administered mail questionnaires sent to all two hundred twenty-five members serving as members of the fifteen boards during the spring of 1978, (2) non-participant observation of all public meetings of one mental health district board for the period June 1977 - March 1978. Eleven meetings were attended. The semantic differential technique was utilized in construction of the questionnaire, for which a 50% return rate was achieved. The measure Gamana was utilized to study the association between perceived autonomy and the three basic dimensions. Principal-components analysis was utilized in evaluation of the semantic differential results. / Most often represented among board member respondents to the mail questionnaire were businessmen (33%) M.D.'s, clinical psychologists and R.N.'s (15%) clergymen (14%) and retired persons (13%). Each board member had been appointed by county commissioners of the counties they represented, and probably represented the traditional elite of their home counties. They did not see themselves as having autonomy with respect to making decisions about setting up rules with respect to funding and to minimum standards of mental health services delivery. Nor did they see themselves as autonomous with regard to creating new mental health programs and/or discontinuing existing mental health programs. Board members who had served one year or more, and those with previous voluntary membership, were less likely to perceive board members as influential in decision-making than were those who had served less than one year, or who had limited voluntary experiences. Mental health district board staff were seen as more influential in decision-making by those board members who were more experienced. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2248. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

Confidentiality is considered one of the foundational principles of social work practice. The ethical, legal and professional responsibility to safeguard client information from unauthorized disclosures is often challenged by cases that pose unique situations in which the practitioner has to make ethical confidentiality practice decisions utilizing available resources. The resources are utilized at the discretion of the practitioner. Research on the utilization of resources is virtually non-existent. This study examines the influence of macro level resource options on confidentiality practices in social work. A survey instrument adapted from Millstein's (2000) Confidentiality in Direct Social-Work Practice: Inevitable Challenges and Ethical Dilemmas research was developed and administered to Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) to assess the number and type of macro level resources that are utilized to resolve confidentiality ethical dilemmas. The sampling frame included all active licensees in the state of Florida (N=9,636) from which 1350 LCSWs were randomly selected to participate in the study. The response rate for the survey was 15% (n=203). Logistic regression, independent sample t-tests and chi-square analyses were utilized to analyze the data. The findings suggest that practitioner and organizational characteristics do not influence the number of resource options that are utilized to resolve confidentiality ethical dilemmas, however macro level resources tend to be utilized more frequently than micro level resources. Significant practitioner differences were found related to the type of resources utilized. The findings suggest that in general, non-whites tended to use macro level resources to resolve confidentiality ethical dilemmas more frequently than whites however gender, practice setting and years of post-master's experience does not appear to influence the use of macro level resources. Limitations of the design and implementation are discussed to guide future research and implications for social work practice and education are also presented. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2010. / Date of Defense: July 6, 2010. / Confidentiality, Social Work / Includes bibliographical references. / Dina Wilke, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kay Pasley, University Representative; Nicholas Mazza, Committee Member; Ralph Brower, Committee Member.